This technology generally relates to the construction of alloplastic surgical implants, and is more particularly directed to an improved material and associated process for constructing a surgical implant. Implantable devices are widely used to replace or augment body tissue in surgical procedures, such as in surgical repair or cosmetic surgery. Finding the ideally constructed implant has eluded all the previously attempted solutions in this field of technology.
Generally, nonporous implants are problematic because the body tends to form a fibrovascular capsule around the solid surface, effectively walling off the nonporous implant from the body. The walling off precludes fibrovascular tissue ingrowth, so the nonporous implant does not biologically integrate with the surrounding body tissue. The fibrovascular capsule can contract, disadvantageously causing a nonporous implant to change shape and/or orientation. Due to the lack of biological integration, nonporous implants can migrate to an undesirable position and/or orientation, and can also cause resorption of the underlying bone. All these factors diminish the desired functionality of the implant. Furthermore, space inside the fibrovascular capsule that becomes infected cannot be reached by the body's immunities, often requiring surgical removal of the nonporous implant.
Porous implants have been developed that are aimed at addressing these concerns. Although improvements have been made in previously attempted solutions, the ideal porous implant would be an alloplast that is economically manufacturable, yet biologically superior in promoting fibrovascular tissue ingrowth while being infection resistant, nonantigenic, and noninflammatory. It is to these advantages that the embodiments of the present invention are directed.